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Buffalo Bills Week 14: Feeling Low @ Mile High!

On a crucial third down, Kyle Orton came up short when sliding for a First Down – Photo via bills.buffalonews.com

The Bills went into Denver with visions of beating Peyton Manning dancing in their heads. Even though the final score was 24-17, the game was never as close as it appeared to be. I was impressed by the defense. Even though they gave up a big run and three rushing TDs to CJ Anderson, they held Manning to less than 200 yards passing and zero touchdowns for the first time in 51 games and intercepted him twice. Unfortunately, our QB didn’t come to play, and we didn’t score a touchdown until the middle of the 4th quarter when we were already down by three scores. The Bills now sit at 7-6, but still have a shot if they can win out. So is there anything positive we can take away from the game?

The Bills D held Peyton Manning to under 200 yards but C.J Anderson hurt them with 3 TD’s – Photo via photos.syracuse.com

On the positive side, the defense did shut down the best QB to ever play and his weapons. Now, one could say Julius and Demaryius Thomas were banged up, and Welker doesn’t look to be the same receiver after some concussion issues this year. Regardless, Manning was on a 51-game touchdown streak that came to an end Sunday. They also limited big plays against them. The only ones that come to mind are the Thompson run and Welker and Sanders receptions of almost 40 yards. Other than that, there wasn’t much offense created by the Broncos.

Other than the defense, there were no other positives I could find. The special teams play was terrible. Jordan Gay was terrible. We had no running game to speak of, and Orton threw the ball almost 60 times while completing just 38 of them for 355 yards. When you miss more than 20 throws in a game, you’re probably going to lose. Orton just looked like he was there to just get a paycheck. There was no fire or passion present.There were several times Orton would turn his back and brace for impact when the pocket began to collapse. There was one instance he got knocked around like a pin ball but stayed up. By the time he regained his composure, he was sacked. If he would have stayed facing the line, he might have made a play. Let’s not forget the infamous slide! Orton decided to scramble on a 3rd and 1, but three guys were probably going to hit him right at the first down. Instead of trying to get it, he slid well before contact for a 2-yard loss. It was a heartless play that kind of summed up our offense’s entire season.

The Refs in last Sunday’s game were atrocious! – Photo via fansided.com

The refereeing in this game was terrible. Every big play the Bills had was negated by a penalty. There was also the photo of the ref’s fist bumping after the first Denver touchdown. Even though they explained it away, it was still suspicious based on the entire body of work that day. The NFL has so many rules that are up for interpretation it’s making the game ridiculous. There’s contact down field that they call, then there’s some they don’t. There’s just no consistency. Its hard not to think that the NFL isn’t scripted–almost like wrestling. I’m sure weekto week they have the teams they want to win and even the ones they want to upset. There’s a lot of money gambled on the NFL, and anyone says that doesn’t influence anything is living in a bubble.

Marrone had another rough day as a coach. I liked going for it on 4th down right away in the 1st quarter. Though, thanks to Orton, they didn’t get it. The biggest gaffe of the day for Marrone was how Jerry Hughes was handled. Hughes only played 12 snaps of the last 36 of the game. The long runs occurred when Hughes wasn’t on the field to set the edge. They had Manny Lawson in who was getting destroyed. Marrone would later say he wasn’t aware Hughes was benched by LB coach Pepper Johnson, but you would think, if you’re watching the game and you don’t see #55 on the field for a while, you might want to ask what happened. He also decided to punt the ball back to Manning with 5:32 left in the 4th when they were down by 14. They did get the ball back, but the Bronco’s ran over 1 minute off the clock and forced the Bills to use all of their timeouts. Even when the Bills got the ball back with 4 minutes left there was just no sense of confidence or urgency. Every time the Bills are in a 2 minute type situation they just stand around. The only time they ran to the line was the Orton rushing TD.

The Bills have another amazing QB to face this week when the Packers come to town. Rodgers is playing like the best QB in the league right now. They just came off a 43-37 thumping of the Falcons. On a good note, their defense isn’t good but don’t underestimate a Dom Capers defense. The Bills are going to need Orton to care and show some signs of competitiveness. He looks like he’s just playing for a pay check. Marrone and Hackett need to dial something up. Granted they can only talk scheme, and they can’t execute it. If the Bills lose here, we are definitely done.

So there you have it, Buffalo. What do you think? Can we pull of a win against Rodgers? What should we do with the QB situation? Should EJ get another chance before the end of the season? Keep it locked and loaded right here same Buffalo time and same Buffalo channel!